#jfc has it not been talked to death already

[orviposition]

this week's side story was banger after banger after banger i cannot even begin explaining how i feel 😭😭 orv the story of all time jfc

the time for the prophecy to be realized was approaching and lhh used stage transformation to the time where dkos had been killed in dark castle. the reader group was there to aid him but they were not strong enough to harm someone as strong as dkos

then yjh's group comes and they all attack dkos one by one. lhh is sad to see how they attack him without the slightest hint of hesitation

lhh gives yjh the sword that can kill dkos' lives and yjh attacks him but dkos taunts him like: "it doesn't seem you know how to use a sword?" and hes right. 41yjh has sacrificed many memories, one of them being his sword skills. so lhh uses orv and shares yjhs body. both stories "three ways to survive in a ruined world" and "omniscient reader's viewpoint" activate as dkos gets stabbed

[constellation demon king of salvation will die in the story he loves"

then dkos smiles almost dazedly, "it's a shame" he says. "i really wanted to read it one more time"

so he gives all his stories to lhh and prepares for death but it doesn't come bcs lhh has already restored the fourth wall inside himself with the help of his story "heir to the eternal name" and therefore has absorbed dkos and sent him to live in the library where he and all the other kdj fragments he had absorbed beforehand are living and reading the story together. dkos is crazy to think that lhh wants to be someone who is great at dying.

he will be the kim dokja who never dies.

his existence restoration rate is 18.8% now

but in doing so the fate was switched back to lhh who is now the demon king of salvation, dkos' stab wound is His stab wound. the portal that will suck him away and eject him from the scenario opens and lhh feels his body get sucked into it little by little. ji eunyu uses yoo sangah's webs and she and his readers try to hold on to him. lhh talks to killer king and calls him by name "cha sungwoo-ssi you are the yoo joonghyuk of these people. please guide them" even yjhs group helps but to no avail. lhh is dropped in the story horizon

bihyung then appears and gives lhh the items he had requested beforehand but he's ambushed by olympus who have come to take lhh with them. just then someone curses at them harshly. lhh looks behind to see 41st turn yjh but he knew that yjh would never curse like that. and then white angelic wings appear behind yjhs back.

[constellation 'demon-like judge of fire' doesnt wish for your death]

1864th uriel has had many regrets.

she tasked yjh with lhh's protection no matter the cost, and yjh has accepted it

even as uriel fights athena, artemis and apollo he doesnt budge to help nor does he let lhh move either. even when poseidon shows up and lhh thinks shes gonna die and begs yjh to help all he says is "no, i have to protect you"

and then kimcom's lee jihye comes to help uriel. poseidon is shocked at her strength. 41yjh even more so. but she is gilyoung's big sister, and when the younger brother goes off on his own ofc the big sister has to follow

she then talks to 41yjh: take him (lhh) and run away. if that ahjussi dies, i'll kill you myself

(needless to say 41yjh is shocked lol)

[harriertail]

Omen of the Stars reread + a lot of thoughts

The Fourth Apprentice

The cover is actually the best cover in the series are you kidding me? Its so pretty. The yellow blue and dark green r so nice

Why does the TC/ShC stream drying up affect the lake water level and not the RiverClan... river? Does the Moonpool stream still run???

Every mention of Squirrel and Leaf sitting together "so close they were like kits just out the nursery" is an actual STAB in the chest. They go thru so much :((((

A flash flood seems to take out the beaver den (or its just poorly worded?) so what was the point of the journey...

Dovewings personality is snappier than i think pple give her credit for, I kinda enjoy her

Tigerheart literally does not interact with her on the mission lmao what is he on about 'I'm gonna miss you'

Jayfeather missing Lionblaze is act so painful :(

Fading Echoes

So much of the opening of these books is just recounting previous events and character arcs omg this goes for all WC books.

Hollyleaf :(

Blossompaw's siblings joke that she moons over Toadstep. Idk why fucking Thornclaw becomes her mate later on then :/

What is Tigerheart doing on the border ? he doesnt explain it? I actually thought that he was already meeting Dovepaw secretly but then hes not like what is he doing...?

Dovepaw being worried for the other Clans + her thoughts about having this power should put her above the Clan rules could be so interesting. the series back-and-forths over Lionblaze (we must protect ThunderClan) and Dovepaw (we must protect all the Clans) even though Lionblaze gets annoyed at Dovepaw for using her powers to look after ThunderClan???

The whole "being obsessed with Prophecy and what it means" is probs a part of Jay's character (as he baso became a med cat to fulfil his destiny) but it also feels like a gross misunderstanding of what a Prophecy is. All the "the dark forest is rising. This might be what the Three is meant for" is like putting the horse before the cart- a prophecy is meant to describe a situation and hint at the character/means to solve it; but PO3/OoTS has the characters/means to solve, but no conflict :/ its a bit backwards.

I like the mentions of Firestar + Sandstorm going on night hunts etc.

Blossompaw/fall's a cunt lol. Shes kinda fun but shes not nice at all especially to Ivypool.

I love Littlecloud. I love when the med cats share ideas and discuss things 10/10 makes my day everytime

The pacing is actually... not good. Ive defo always been on thr camp of "too many povs and too few chapters ruins the book" but wow FE really shows it.

So much of Doves characterisation so far is about agency and not wanting to be special and have Firestar/Lion/Jay talk to her. I wish this was not forgotten about in later Super Editions.... kittypetdovewing2k24

this battle is crazy tho. I wish more of the DF plot was about stirring up trouble between the Clans and specific troublemakers in each Clan rather than the later nebelous 'dark warriors invade the forest' battle. Ill get to that one day

Night Whispers

Picking right back up in the battle...

and again just recounting the last books events. hollyleaf death/disappearance explanation count: 3

Kinda love how many times shes mentioned. From Lionblaze avoiding the tunnel she ran into to Jayfeather finding the fur that Leafpool hid.... cute

Okay i actuallt love ShadowClan discussing the battle + tactics + training and then the chapter immediately after the TC camp doesnt mention it at all and Ivypaw is like "why arent we discussing the battle? Just because we won doesn't mean we will again!!" interesting character moments + a nice look at differences between the Clans

Ivypaw and dovepaw fighting over tigerheart????? they fight so much but then always wanna be together like jfc.

Dove n tiger have negative chemistry like it just jumps right into "no boundaries can keep us apart". I get shes using him as an escape from TC/prophecy bullshit but like.... rlly? I wish it was just like expanded on. Tbh i wish every chapter had like just two extra pages to actually delve into things a bit better.

Lmaoo lionblaze cinderheart leafpool dovepaw patrol this is so fucking funny brambleclaw u get one point for this

Tigerheart break up scene count: 1

Flametail POV. Interesting but... why? Bad things r coming we know... what was his point narratively? It was cool tho. I liked seeing ShadowClan.

Every single book Dovepaw has a character die/get really hurt and is haunted by their screams. Rippletail, Longtail/Briarpaw, and later on its Antpelt... jesus christ girlie has it SO rough

The ivypaw "nernernenerner im better than you im being trained by tigerstar" to "oh fuck hes actually a bad guy i cant believe the terroristic maniac lied to me" is so rapid shes so funny/stupid

The imagery in this book is kinda crazy. Fire and ice cats and drowning in darkness visions. Very fun.

Sign of the Moon

So the med cats are divided and split up and StarClan does not trust any other Clan cat- but when in StarClan, Barkface and Flametail are hanging out? Crookedstar offers to share prey with Yellowfang? But StarClan is super fractured rn each Clan must stand alone. Okay

Antpelt nooooooooooooooo

Idk what the mountain prophecy actually means like. Firestar was always going to lead ThunderClan into battle.... what is he gonna do that's different...

Rock: i was the first Stoneteller Five chapters later Half Moon becomes the first Stoneteller. This is egregious

Swoop death. that's the fourth death Dovewing is going to be haunted by

The Forgotten Warrior

all the hints to Hollyleaf still... its a nice throughline... the yarrow and tansy and Molepaw/Cherrypaw scenes... shes my fave. sometimes the foreshadowing feels like it could be just Jayfeather coping that she's 'defo still out there' but TFW ties it up well. especially when you get surprised by Sol coming back and its like 'oh they were convinced she was defo still out there :(' and then she's actually back!!!

also the title??? is banger. the Forgotten Warrior, with Leafpool on the OG cover??? wow. espec as its constantly brought up that Leafpool was the medicine cat but no one sees her as a warrior really.... TBH all these titles are just as good as the TPB titles in terms of meaning/how good they are.

Another fox? okay.

SOL.... okay

tunnel adventures part 3.

All this like.. Bumeblstripeing is just kinda naff. Dovewing is clearly tryna force herself into liking him. But then she's also going on about how Tigerheart used her??? NGL i do really wanna see like.. why she changes her mind in AVOS

Brambleclaw lying to protect Hollyleaf is actually like. GOD that hurts. especially when you consider Bramblestar's Storm and how much he misses her. thats his favourite

the cinderheart shit is so stupid my jaw is actually on the floor. what you do mean you've been in love with a cat you shouldn't have. is cinderheart having cinderpelt's feelings for fucking firestar and that's why she doesn't want to be with lionblaze. also they have negative chemistry they literally are CONSTANTLY having issues.

oh my god i swear the 'Sol is secretly working with WindClan' was brought up chapters ago and we are only now dealing with it okay. anyway hollyleaf moment.

its kinda weird we dont get any like. scenes of the siblings just being siblings... they only discuss prophecy/plot shit and dont get to be siblings again - which i guess fits with the whole 'everything has changed' but god it'd be so god to just have them doing like. normal cat stuff - especially when so much of this series has had Jayfeather missing her and Lionblaze

i love Dustpelt and Brackenfur building shit... its so good

Dawnpelt murder accusations. okay.... i can't wait for Flametail to suddenly be argumentative again next book

the battle we've been building to all book is one chapter. cool. Sol runs off again and it's the end of the book. cool.

[murfpersonalblog]

IWTV S2 Ep2 Musings - KING LDPDL 🤴🏾

WTF was going on with Louis this episode!? My guy was frikkin FERAL! Jacob! The ACTEURE that you are~! 🤌 Sir Anderson! Eff an Emmy--he's British, someone KNIGHT this man already! 👑

Louis was deflecting AND flexing on Daniel, I could not WITHSTAND the charisma uniqueness nerve and talent!

Daniel was LITERALLY shaking in his boots--call in Dr Fareed again; whatever "medication" y'all gave him is wearing off.

Armand, are you gonna give Daniel a CHOICE my guy?

The LOUMAND of it all--they were SERVIIIIIIING~~~~

These two banter like an old married couple, it's SO GOOD! ^0^

And it's SO EFFING FAKE! XD

Jacob/Louis has unleashed yet ANOTHER persona(lity): this heinous bougie AF trophy wife wench whom I absolutely LOOOOOOOVE. 😭

The pretentious snobbery of it all. <3

Armand and Lestat should be fed to a BLENDER! Stop ragging on my sweet baby Louis for not wanting to lay around killing/sexing all night! Then y'all get mad at him when he sits around the house all depressed, not wanting to go out and do anything but read books!

But Armand confronting Louis was so adorable--thinking they were either insulting the coven, or toying with them/playing hard-to-get.

And Louis talking about how much Armand looked like a BOY playing dressup (just like Claudia)--he's so condescending sometimes, this 33-y/o who had to grow up too soon; vs. an ancient vampire who'll forever look too young. U_U

Oh how the tables have turned; but history still repeats itself!

It's so wild how with Loustat, Les was the one pretending to be a regular human, in his awkward frumpy clothes; while Lou was struggling to hold on to his high class status during their bidding war over Miss Lily ("admiration and emasculation"). But with Loumand, Louis' the one tryna pass as a regular human in his layman clothes, while Armand "masquerades" as Gentleman Death.

Both times, Lou has to contend with the power imbalances of two overpowered vampires outclassing him over & over again. But while Lou was hostile & offended by Les; he's scared & meek with Armand.

He's been humbled & broken down so much, and he knows firsthand what older/ancient vampires are capable of--

--esp. since Armand confronted Louis intending to threaten him (b4 he realized how pretty Lou was and changed his mind, LOL).

But I do wonder how Louis sensed his "ancient power" exactly? Other than Claudia he's only been around Les & Daciana; so how could he tell? (I bet Daciana's as old Armand.) This was something that always irked me in the books, cuz TWMBK weren't sensed by Lestat until Marius brought him right up to them. Is it cuz Les was too young, or TWMBK just didn't bother projecting their presence to anyone?

Cuz we know Armand was always sending out signals with his Mind Gift (but he's a pro at it, ofc).

Sometimes it seems humans can sense the undead better than the undead can; they can just tell something's OFF.

But I'm just curious exactly what Louis was feeling from Arma--oh wait!

Yeah, never mind, stupid question! XD

Lou's REACTION, I cackled. Chile, you know how cute you are, stop acting coy! XD The man was so painfully gorgeous in this episode, like--

HE WEARS WOE LIKE VELVET, Y'ALL. 😭

He wears neck ties like the French in France, y'all! 🤣 LOUIS! You're KILLING me! 😍 The Village is waiting!

Santiago's 100% right--I am COMPLICIT in the misery of others; I just wanna see Louis break down and have a total fit (and kill Daniel while he's at it--UNWORTHY in SanFran, UNWORTHY in Dubai!).

DRAG HIM, LOUIS! Pack this closeted geriatric butch queen TF up!

I have no clue WTF is going on here, but if Daniel hates it, then I LOVE IT; keep pulling humor from HIS pain for a change, yeah!

The SKULL-DRAGGING, jfc!

My guy is UNHINGED, and I'm here for it!

Armand, why are you INTERRUPTINGGGGGG??????? 😩

OOP!

Nevermind me, Armand, put him in his PLACE, yaas!

[ca-suffit]

i'm sorry your blog has turned into a forum to discuss lestat's queerness lol ppl could at least try to keep it on topic, this blog is about racism. the point is that louis gets treated differently by fandom because ppl are centering white queerness, idk if this is the right space to try to qualify how that white queerness is presented, or if it's even worth it to try and determine if the way lestat is presented is queer enough. let's bring the conversation back to louis and claduia pls!! one anon said that the show does not try to set a line for what is or isn't queer enough and that's so true and such a fucking fantastic thing, but then most conversations about queerness (whether positive or negative) are about lestat or fucking santiago of all characters! and i'm already getting annoyed at the amount of posts i see about nicki. luckily i have somehow managed to curate my tumblr and twitter so i see stuff about louis and claudia too but content like that is hard to find

there's a new topic every day tbh so it's fine lol. I'm trying to clear my inbox today and there's like 6 diff topics. it p much always ties back to racism tho, no matter what it is, ppl just need help connecting the dots. I find it rly interesting watching the things ppl pick up from each anon and the topics ppl come to talk about here in the first place.

tbh all of these conversations have had me thinking about claudia and her queerness but I don't have full notes yet. I keep thinking of her interest in emily dickinson, someone who was isolated a lot in her life and also known thru her writing after death. I feel like claudia is talked about the least of all in these conversations and has the most to explore tbh?? she got to see queerness "growing up" but not exactly always in a healthy way or a way she'd relate to for various reasons. her line to louis in S2 "tell me what a woman is, I'll tell u what a woman is." she's influenced by both louis and lestat, succeeds where they fail, then is killed bcuz she's never allowed to be her own person outside of them anyway. and it's insane how everyone was literally saying "happy pride" cos lestat shouted down the homophobe when claudia and madeleine later died. the audience disconnect in some ppl jfc.

there's also been some talk of gabrielle and claudia meeting (in fan theories, not like it does happen or will happen). I think that's interesting to explore too bcuz gabrielle also has vaguely canon queer vibes at times but is also uncomfortable with what "woman" means, however ppl wanna interpret that. claudia has to create a version of "woman" for herself and defend it constantly. they're both trapped in their bodies in ways and I think a lot could be said in many ways surrounding queerness, gender, and privilege between an older white woman and a young black girl, especially from the same family. I don't think they'd rly get along but I do wonder what claudia would think about seeing a version of lestat as a woman instead. I also think putting lestat in a room with both of them would make him want to kill himself lol.

[oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat]

So, I Watched "My Roommate is Hades"

Here's some reactions from me as I watch the pilot episode. Maybe be a bit of rant/long post. Told and expressed in bullet points (list).

Trigger/Content Warning: nude/naked mention (vague), all-caps, cursed image, boomer, fire (fake, CGI)

Major Spoilers: My Roommate is Hades (MRIH) [Pilot Episode]

SIR, I HAVE THOSE SAME GLASSES, WUT-

his name is Homer. like the Greek poet, Homer.

FUN FACT: Lehrer means "teacher" in German

Homer Lehrer -> Greek poet name and also surname means "teacher"? oh f*ck yeah

Matthessy? like... like Odessey? or am I just a nerd.

nice theme song ya got there - catchy

"yeah, that Hades" what other Hades would he be, your main audience are all queer as f*ck, we KNOW Greek Mythology

second time to college - good to note

first degree in chemical engineering but went nowhere? love me some "Thomas projects on his characters" content

Homer is a sweetheart, look at him in his little videos on campus, he's ready to learn, a curious poet man

over 10 years since he last went to school, m'kay

"oh sheesh" -> I laughed at his reaction to how long it's been since he was in school LMAO

yeah, some adjustment period, huh?

Homer's lighting is warm hue and Hades' lighting is cold/icy hue

"HEy-" ffs, Hades almost scared me, jfc

why does Homer look scared in Hades' POV but in his own POV, he just looks annoyed?

^hmm, interesting...

ALSO: NEW MEME/REACTION IMAGE UNLOCKED

^I'm laughing, omg-

"doughy mortal" my dude, you make him sound like a pastry

Homer says "mortal rights"

just love the interaction of Homer thinking doughy means he hasn't been working out or something & Hades is like "no, I mean you're soft" and goes on a mini tangent about how he'd die to the easy-feat crocodiles back in Ancient Greece

I have a feeling Hades is gonna talk about Ancient Greece a lot throughout this series - cause it's home

"again with the crocodiles" -> man has talked about crocodiles before, hasn't he?

Hades is an early sleeper, I guess??

^also, 3pm? my dude, that's the afternoon, no need to sleep that f*cking early

love how Hades can just whoosh into visibility from the shadows - excellent for stealing pizza from roommate

"I like my money" OKAY THEN, RICH BOI.

wait, wtf are you doing in college, you f*cking snobby pizza-hoarding mf?

Hades is just walking around with very little to no clothes on, and Homer just closes his eyes and takes off his glasses like "this f*cking dude" in annoyance

"In Ancient Greece, everyone was naked all of the time!" -> everyone in Ancient Greece was also very gay and queer, shut up

^"puppet shows-" WAIT WUT

"You keep bringing up the meaninglessness of mortals' lives." // "To be fair, you're pretty good at bringing it up yourselves."

^I HAVE PERISHED (/pos)

"that's gen z" // "I'm a millennial, I can only be depressed-"

^gonna cry, omfg LMAO

Homer being surprised at Hades' confession that he doesn't want to be here either is something to note; perhaps they both don't want to be the situation they're in, for different reasons

^something to connect over?

Hades misses his doggo

ah yus: brother Zeus says "ya kinda weird bro" and then yeets him into mortal college

"f*cking community college-" I DIED, H A-

mm, love it when Gods get yeeted by their siblings into mortal bodies to learn a lesson - very delicious trope

"yes I did, Benjermin Franklin" // "what the f*ck-"

HE CALLS HIM BENNIE - I'M SOBBING

Bennie is my favourite, omg

never pause this video - oh god

HERE, HAVE A CURSED IMAGE

^suffer with me :3

"college is useless, death is inevitable" -> you would get along with gen z, wouldn't you?

"fate worse than immortality itself" -> using this every time I have a mild inconvenience

Homer has an existential crisis - relatable

"So, upon seeing the ghost of Benjermin Franklin, something broke inside my brain."

^HADES, STOP BREAKING YOUR ROOMMATE'S BRAIN. MORTALS ARE FRAGILE; THEY BREAK EACH OTHER'S BRAINS ALREADY ON THEIR OWN, DON'T ADD TO IT

Homer being like "learning that Gods exist was a shocker, but hey - worse sh*t has happened" is my fav thing about him

^this is him upon learning the Afterlife is real

RIP Homer's Sanity, never had a chance, 2023 to Never

ah yus, Greek God eats grapes like he's posing for a statue made after him. classic Gods behaviour

FLORAL SHIRT - the flower motif continues

love how chill Hades is about the Afterlife/explaining it as if Homer didn't just have his entire worldview and reality break in half

5 rivers, Tartarus, Rive Styx - love all of this Greek Mythology knowledge

^the true gayness comes out when GREEK MYTHOLOGY

Hades doesn't know Beyonce - a true Greek tragedy

"is any of them, idk, nice?" // "eh-"

^that's not reassuring

Homer's Existential Crisis, Part II

scales of judgement, mm

...can we please give Homer a hug? he needs one.

Hades has teal/light blue fire- neat

Homer studied Greek Mythology in school? that's very gay of you, sir.

Afterlife has Purgatory and Cool Kids Club, confirmed

Hades not putting people in places cause grey areas and "too much paperwork" - relatable lmao

I just realized Hades is basically like "back in my day" with Ancient Greece

^is Hades a boomer-

^^OH GOD, HE'S A BOOMER

Homer really said "um morals tho-" and Hades gets angy

Hades complaining about the weird deal between Zeus and Menelaus(?) is funny to me

wait, Hades complaining about Orpheus is funnier, omg-

I sense some "no one listens to me or heeds my advice" angst from Hades

"f*cking artists-" laughing, crying, TIME TO PERISH

"not even mortals listen to me" -> I WAS RIGHT

hmm, a wager? interesting...

this is gonna get so gay, oh dear lord

"little man" -> Homer is short, confirmed

THE FIRE-WHEN-MAKING-A-DEAL TROPE - YUS

Immediately recognized Hermes, the casting is brilliant

gay-ass Hermes, yep

THEY'RE ALL HERE - uh oh-

Persephone is mentioned and then Hades is like "skjhfkajs- I mean, oh really? haha, how is she?"

Hermes being like "I have no f*cking clue" is funny to me LMAO

Hermes is a flirt, confirmed

^he literally winks/flirts with Homer lmao

Zeus heading a fraternity? most canon thing in canon

"if there's one thing I care about less than humanity, it's my family"

^LMAO Hades is an emo edgelord with a literal God Complex

"a living hell... in a bad way" -> why is that funny-

"I JUST WANTED TO GO BACK TO COLLEGE"

the best ending line, lmao

mm, outro

===

Some Overall Thoughts

Because this is the Pilot episode, and Thomas had admitted somewhere that he's not entirely sure how to do what he intends to do, I didn't expect perfection. I was right not to. This is still a very good pilot episode, even with the random things I noticed. It does sound a bit more scripted in an obvious way. Which can be a bit... just eh. We'll see how this goes.

The different lighting choices for Hades and Homer was a nice touch. I appreciate the blue/icy lighting for Hades, as he is portrayed as a cold character. I also appreciate the orangish-yellow/warm lighting for Homer, as he is portrayed as a kind and moral character. There's even some colour themes with them, evident in their student cards. Homer has that beige theme, and Hades has the light blue theme. Hades' fire is even teal/light blue, which is a nice little detail.

The generation jokes were funny (to me, at least), but I can recognize how they'd be kinda blah with other people. Hades seems to be a bit of a boomer (always talking about Ancient Greece in the back-in-my-day fashion), while Homer is a millennial (literally says so in one of his generation jokes). Even then, still funny to me.

^But still, can be a bit flat in the humour department.

I love everyone's distinct personalities already. We have our protagonist, Homer Lehrer, who just wants to go to college and make something of his life; Hades, a Greek God who's "out of touch" with the real world and thus has been sentenced to community college; Hermes, who's a flirty, flamboyant mf with no clue who tf sent the letters or where tf they came from (even though he's literally The Messenger); and we have everyone else, yet to be seen on screen.

The family banter already (between Hades and Hermes) is 100% my fav part about the Greek Deities. Them just bickering like mortal family members would. I love it!

Some lore/theories to think about! Who sent the letters that knocked all of the Greek Deities out and sentenced them to mortality and community college? Why did this happen? Where did the letters come from? How tf did Hermes send himself a letter and then blackout like his amass of siblings & family members? What's the deal with Persephone and Hades? Why won't she talk to him? What happened between them?

What is Homer's purpose of being there, sans him going back to college for self-fulfillment reasons?

How tf did Zeus head an entire faternity so fast?

Homer being roomies with Hades is the funniest sh*t about this entire series.

I do both love and feel weary about the sitcom vibes from this. Sitcoms are funny in their own corny, classic way. It's scripted in a sorta obvious way, but there is a good amount of natural flow to it.

===

Anyway: that's all my thoughts for now. Hope everyone enjoyed this lovely lil pilot. Feel free to share your own thoughts and theories!! I want to hear them.

[ladyimaginarium]

HENNYWAYS I SAID I'D MAKE A LIL POST ABOUT IT SO. i think that loretta really was the missing link & was a key factor in bringing marco & connie together.

we already see that from a very young age loretta was clearly very attached to marco & vice versa & luca completely trusted him around his only daughter, that's a big deal.

loretta may have been playing with marco with her laughter being heard outside. also we gotta appreciate the fact that connie was running a business at literally 15 y/o.

its very clear that connie absolutely adores loretta & deeply respects galahad. which i have a hitch that galahad may have brought marco along because 1) loretta likes him & b) he may be interested in marco & connie's dynamic & want to see where it goes.

& her whole demeanor completely changes the second she sees marco outside.

then connie subtly tries to get galahad & loretta upstairs so she can speak with marco, mostly because she doesn't want tiny loretta to get caught up in their business considering she's so young & sweet. it's Very obvious that loretta & connie have a sisterly relationship considering loretta considers joel to be a grandmother figure already & that hasn't changed even when she's years older as a teenager.

i think connie may have been reminded of her own childhood looking at loretta with galahad here. she was prolly the cutest kid that ever lived. she was four at the time.

so she approaches marco to talk to him. word spreads & it's no secret that she knows he's changed & how he's actively proved this in the stories that were passed around him being the one saving the club from the hate group by killing every member there brutally & she's also entirely aware that loretta adores marco. so she's testing him.

connie has repeatedly told him not to come back because he's a living breathing reminder of the day her parents died, his former allegiance to the destroyers who killed them, & the trauma but he still does so. but notice how she has her door almost completely open, like she's almost ready to let him in. interestingly, marco doesn't face her either, almost like he's too ashamed to look at her or at the very least not having connie see his face out of respect for her & offering her at least that much.

& marco himself acknowledges this much to connie's exasperated annoyance.

a very obvious lie, he's never been good at lying to her, & connie sees right through it.

as she says, marco literally always comes back to her which is heavily implied out of how he feels is his obligation to keep her safe & makes sure she's alright despite everything that's happened between them & his blooming deep feelings for her.

& marco acknowledges this & apologizes to her; he genuinely doesn't like causing her pain even if he himself wasn't the one responsible for her parents' deaths but he can't stay away from wanting to protect her. notice how in all of her flashbacks of him, marco's eyes are always hidden. but you see, the windows are the eyes to the soul.

this is the first time we ever see connie smile around him. this is a first for her. connie's finally beginning to let him in. because if luca & galahad & loretta trust her, then maybe she can, too. look at how tenderly he looks at her. this entire scene is the beginning of the bittersweet end for both marco & constance several years later.

loretta's having some cookies & milk & galahad's very interested in their conversation.

& connie asks for his name while reaching for the door that separates them to open it. after all these 5 years of him in ergastulum, she's never once asked for his name nor asked for anything about him. this is a sign she's showing interest in him as a person. so marco turns around almost like he's in awe of her & then proceeds to tells her his chosen name. like. jfc get me sb who looks at me the way marco looks at connie.

[magnoliamyrrh]

believing in female solidarity and class conciousness and sisterhood while dealing with western feminists is actually a nightmare lmao

im so tired of making an effort, i truly am. im so tired. im tired of feeling like i have to teach Basic Empathy and Caring abt Others and Class Conciousness 101. im tired of being the only one whose making an effort in this relation. im so tired of it being the case that its only the westerners who lose their little marbles over whatever feminist points i may be be trying to make, and they somehow don't understand the irony in them prepetually calling so many nonwestern feminists fascists or whatever the fuck else. yes yes, indian feminists are just stupid for trying to ban pornography and surrogacy, please enlighten them. south korean women are just evil brainwashed bitches, that's why they're radical separatists - south asia in general having a separatist and radical wave is for no reason whatsoever theyre just nazis lmao. african feminists, so many of them, are white supremecists for not exactly parroting your western bullshit, yup yup this makes sense. islamic feminists are "suspicious" lmao for the language we use in our writings (analysis of material reality). lets completely ignore that the feministms of the nonwestern world call for the abolition of prostitution. balkan sex trafficking victims, which are most prostitutes and child prostitues in the west, spending years speaking out against all this and trying to change laws? naaah we know nothing, we dont know nothing at all, the well of westerners who have no idea what theyre talking abt will englighten us abt that, while calling for the death of women who dont agree with their sex work bullshit lmao. we also have a bad habit of joking abt unifying and killing men and killing sex tourists, we should probably stop that bc its real offensive and scary to the westerners too

all this god damn endless performative sharade about LiSteN to WoMen of CoLour and LisTen to ThIrd WoRld WoMen and liSten to NonWeSteRn WoMen and poOr woMen and SeX TrAffIcking ViCtiMs (wait nvm they dont even say that now, bc only "sex workers" exist to them, ever) et fucking cetera. yea lmao. they dont actually give a shit about marginalized women though

god help us. how the hell is the cognitive dissonance of this whole situation not hitting them exactly? with. literally basically any other feminist on this planet but the liberal/mainstream westerners you can hold an actual conversation and discourse and understand each other. everyone but them and their postmodern brainrot understands this is a class struggle and understands the root of the opression of the female sex. "ThErES nO UnIvErSalLiTy BetWeEN wOmEn" just shut it already jfc. the fact that we can have international conversations on our struggles basically already proves there is - its only you who cant get what planet youre living on, with the endless relativity and individualism and choice and language politiquing and patriarchal bootlicking

i know, because ive been doing it for years. and ive been watching the feminist movements of the nonwestern world for years. i also know the only reason why on this blog i Can actually for the most part say things without being crucified is bc most of yall arent western or white or both

and apart from the ones who outright lose their mind or feel incredibly comfortable speaking over you or talking down to you - dont rly know how they havent choked on the entitlement yet -maybe they're just fucking lost and too far gone. but. even the rest. who are less hostile or just privileged and dont know better. im just tired, just tired.

the internet is chock full of the opinions of nonwestern women on feminism. the internet is chock full of the accounts of sex trafficking victims, of child prostitues, of prostitutes, of experts on human trafficking. its fucking full of it. and its on tv, and sometimes in newspapers. god fucking damn it so much has been written on this, so much has been done on this, so many efforts movements organizations documentaries whatever the fuck. spains laws were changed by our trafficked women but somehow its like this fact doesn't exist to the westenrs, or the have the gull to explain that, actually, they're wrong.

it is of absolutely no pleasure of me at all to educate the western "feminists" on shit they could educate themselves on in approximately 10 fucking minutes if theyd bother to do a google search and give a shit, actually give a shit and maybe, for fucking once, realize theyre not always right and the center of the world. its of no pleasure to me at all to have to keep my cool and be nice enough that whatever i say isnt just dismissed, because if youre too fucking angry over god damn sexual slavery you're just an evil crazy irrational bitch. im tired. whatever the hell i say has been said by so many before, so many times, for so long, but its like its been said to a wall or yelled out into space

sometimes i wonder what the hell we must even do for it to even matter. rationality and calmness hasnt helped. anger hasn't helped. detailed accounts of what its Actually like to be trafficked or a child prostitute or a prostitute or a sex slave, havent helped. we have bore our pain and sorrows and trauma and soul and so often it doesn't mean a single god damn thing to them. what. what needs to happen. should we just start having mental breakdowns and screaming our throaths raw infront of them? no, they will not care or understand even then. should we show them what the sexual slavery of children actually looks like - except wait, theres undercover journalism and documentaries and accounts written on this. it matters not. it matters not. Whats next? Interpretive dance?? What else we got, should we maybe just start trying to communicate through telepathic waves?? i wonder if some of them are simply doomed to be deaf and blind and unfeeling

im tired of making the effort, and im tired of reaching across the isle hoping that at least some of them can change their minds and give a shit and open their eyes to whats actually happening, and how detached their "feminism" is from the rest of ours. im tired of having to explain to the western women whose ideology is responsable for, lmao, our peoples sexual slavery, that this shit is real bad, and lmao in actuality imperialism, but having to do it nicely enough while They are x30 times more hostile with Me. lord. if youre going to call me a fascist and cancel me irl, if were just throwing words around, can i just start calling them slavers? except thats not going to get us anywhere, except no matter how many times i want to just snap, i know that doing so as badly as i want to to their face isnt going to get anything done

. and.what choice do i have, really? i cant simply leave the western feminists to their bullshit. because what they think becomes law in their own damn countries and then affects us, it becomes international law as well because it is their country who lead the international community. the bullshit that they think, actually, unfortunately direcly affects us. and not only that, but it affects the women and girl-children most vulnerable and opressed in their own countries, whom are still our sisters whose pain and saftey i am concerned with. so i cant just leave them to it, and there is little choice then to not educate, or not try to at least try to reach across the isle. theres little choice but to have the hope that some of them can care and understand, and that some is better than nothing and worth it and a start..... even with how fucking tired and fed up i am and how i wish i wouldnt have to keep bearing my god damn suffering just so theyd get it, im still. frankly so willing to do it with someone who is actually willing to listen and change. i dont believe in canceling people forever, and i have the hope and knowledge that changing one persons mind is a ripple effect, for then they change anothers mind, and on and on

i just wish. theyd at least meet me halfway. im tired of making the effort to still see them as sisters and women whose struggles i care about, while for the most part they could give less of a shit

[mlobsters]

supernatural s14e20 moriah (w. andrew dabb)

dads fighting over killing their kid, sammy stressed. what a world

(jfc when jdm/john is talking in the recap i'm like godDAMN whose voice is he reminding of - oh right, i talked about this already when watching that very episode -_- good voice 10/10 both actors)

i wonder how far back it goes that they showed people getting their heads chopped off to the line "Lay your weary head to rest" in carry on my wayward song because i remember this song used to hit me in the feelings way back when (mentioned it still working for me in 6x22 at least.) anyway, i am also very literal with song lyrics and my little fanvids so i can't really criticize but tone 🤌

CASTIEL You should never have tried to lock him away. DEAN You know what? You're right. I never wanted to put him in that damn box. I wanted him dead. CASTIEL Dean. DEAN He's dangerous, Cas, and you knew it! You've known it for a long time! But that's okay. You know why? Because me and Sam, we've killed just about everything there is. And this -- Jack -- oh, we'll find a way. Because he's just another monster. CASTIEL You don't mean that. DEAN The hell I don't.

sigh, this is frustrating! but we gotta have conflict somewhere right, so dean's taking out is hurt and grief over mary on jack, making choices that are making jack worse. and now hellbent on killing him without taking any time to try to work the problem in another way

DEAN I don't know. Maybe we call Rowena, see if she can put together one of those, um, "soul bombs." SAM The...thing you were gonna use against the Darkness? DEAN Yeah, might actually put a dent in the kid. SAM Okay. (quietly) DEAN Sam, I know this isn't easy, okay? He -- I know how much he meant to you. He meant a lot to me. He was family. But this? This is not Jack anymore. He's hurting, he's killing people. This isn't gonna be easy, but we're gonna have to do the hard thing. We're gonna have to do the ugly thing. Ain't like it's the first time, though, right?

was he raring to kills cas when he killed all those people and angels when fake god juiced up on souls?

apparently yes! clearly forgot about that

wiki summary excerpt from 7x01 The ritual is successful, and Death appears, bound. He thinks that he has been summoned regarding Sam's hallucinations, and Dean looks to Sam, surprised by the news. Death asserts that he can't help Sam (there's only "one wall per customer"), and Dean tells him instead that they want him to kill Castiel. Before they can convince him, though, Castiel appears. He threatens to kill them all, but Dean reminds him that Death is under their control. It appears that they are at a stalemate.

ok, so is this truth spell business from jack everywhere? fic premise-y. and mirror universe for the company name, okay.

SAM You. Come on, man. You're always calling me a geek, but you know every word to every Led Zeppelin song -- backwards and forwards -- you can discuss in detail every major rock drummer between '67 and '84, and... you watch "Jeopardy!" every night.

not to mention nerding out over horror films, cars, etc etc. we are all but nerds in our own special ways

like, we're really going for truth spell gags here? what'd i say about tone? lol

well. stapler queen is cute

pretty place to film and nice shot. didn't expect chuck but knew he had to come around eventually. i do really enjoy rob benedict though. he's so good at being that chill aw shucks persona that chuck usually is. like hey what a nice smile, good to see him! wait, he's the absent-est of fathers and lets the world nearly implode on a regular basis

DEAN Yeah, guess your life isn't so perfect after all, EightPackMommy. SAM What? DEAN Yeah, she's got this blog. Yeah, you know what? Your kids aren't that cute. And that gluten-free popover looks like crap because there's no gluten in it. You know what I mean? I'll stop talking. SAM Probably a good plan.

hope we get better truth spell anecdotes than dean follows a mommy blogger (nope.) also are we really supposed to just take on this info that sam's favorite singer is actually celine dion? :p

cathartic until god yells at you

CHUCK Okay, look. I get it. All right, I'm from the deus from the machina, and you have questions.

all very twee

CHUCK: Listen, you guys know me. I'm hands-off. I built the sandbox -- you play in it. You want to fight Leviathans? Cool. You got that. You want to go up against -- what was it? -- the "British Men of Letters"? Okay. Little weak, but okay. But when things get really bad, like the Apocalypse or the Other Apocalypse, that's when I have to step in.

i will always appreciate a roast of the bmol plotline

SAM So you're saying Jack is Apocalyptic? CHUCK The kid said, "Stop lying," and I don't know if you noticed, but the world kinda went insane.

the whole crazy powered up nephilim actually equates to god powers, sure

lol what. the colt 2.0 but actually kills anything

CHUCK So, this doesn't so much fire bullets as it sends a wave of multi-dimensional energy across a perfectly balanced quantum link between whoever's shooting it and whoever they're shooting at.

this is giving very crack treated seriously (or just plain crack) vibes

CHUCK Uh, whatever happens to the person you're aiming at also happens to you. So you kill him... DEAN You die.

🙄okay.

CAS I don't understand why we're talking about killing Jack. Y-You can fix him. You can --You can restore his soul. That's why I called you. CHUCK Yeah, not so much. SAM You're God. CHUCK Well, souls are complicated -- even for me. Besides, even if I could, would you really want -- I mean, after what he did? CASTIEL Then we bind him. We throw him in the Cage until -- DEAN Stop, Cas. You heard him. This is the only way. CAS And Billie said the only way to defeat Michael was to lock you in a box. CHUCK Ugh. Billie. I liked the old Death better. He was all about fried pickles and tickle porn. This new Death -- she's always sticking her scythe where it doesn't belong. CAS There has to be another way. DEAN Well, there's not. Now, I know you don't like it, and I don't really care. 'Cause you just heard it from God Himself that this is the only thing that can kill Jack, so either get on board, or walk away.

i think part of why i'm finally warming up to cas is him consistently caring about someone - like, willing to go to the mat with anyone for jack. and there's less of this bumbling clueless angel schtick periodically thrown in.

and something again i don't like is when anyone does this shut up there's no other way it's my way or the highway business. i feel like i talked about this before... maybe with the soul bomb business? and probably the box too? rushing into deadly action that can't be walked back with almost no information. which i compared to agonizing over how to deal with lucifer all season in s5 and finally accepting sam going into the cage was the only viable option left. there's just so many plot beats and so much going on at one time. and then dean rushes into shit and i'm just like STOP BREATHE WAIT.

hopefully not plot relevant flask filling, unlike last time we saw him do it (that i recall) in 7x18

music (lennertz and wynn) at the beginning reminds me a bit of hannibal bloodfest again, the muted version that was in 14x08 when jack had died from the heavenly tuberculosis

glad sam is standing up to dean's willingness to again sacrifice himself at the drop of a hat and point out they haven't even tried to fix anything, just rushing into these awful solutions. and pointing out that they got themselves into this situation in the first place by bringing jack back. (and hey, maybe consider chuck's motivations in all this)

not a great hug but way less creepy than hugging soulless sam at least. glad he didn't actually kill his grandmother and has calmed down a bit and acknowledged he's not feeling anything anymore

CHUCK No. Sam... you and your brother, of all the Sams and Deans in all the multiverse, you're my favorite. You're just so interesting. I mean, like that thing that happened at the office earlier today -- that was crazy, right? SAM Do you watch us? When you're not here, are -- are you... watching us? CHUCK Yeah. I mean, you're my favorite show.

creeper asshole. what new way can we make them suffer today

SAM Wait a second. Why, when the chips are down, when the world is -- is failing, why does it always have to be on us?! CHUCK Because you're my guys.

good to see sam yelling at chuck about it.

sigh

like this really is soul bomb 2.0 (i was not a fan). some half cocked plan with new random made up weapon that gets introduced mid episode in the season finale that will result in dean dying to kill some almost-impossible to kill god type entity. not making me cry this time, bitches

padalecki got to phoebe-run through the park yelling for dean for an extended period of time, that was something

CHUCK This isn't how the story is supposed to end. CAS The story? CHUCK Lookit, the -- the -- the gathering storm, the gun, the -- the father killing his own son. This is Abraham and Isaac. This is epic! DEAN Wait. What are you saying? SAM He's saying he's been playing us. This whole time. CHUCK Come on. SAM Our entire lives. Mom, Dad -- everything. This is all you because you wrote it all, right? Because -- Because what? Because we're your favorite show? Because we're part of your story? CHUCK Okay, Dean, no offense, but your brother is stupid and crazy. And that kid is still dangerous. So pick up the gun. Pick it up... pull the trigger... and I'll bring her back. Your mom. DEAN No. My mom was my hero. And I miss her, and I will miss her every second of my life, but she would not want this. And it's not like you even really care. 'Cause Sam's right. The Apocalypse, the first go-around, with Lucifer and Michael -- you knew everything that was going on, so why the games, Chuck, huh? Why don't You just snap your fingers and end it?! CHUCK Look, I -- SAM And every other bad thing we've been killing, been dying over -- where were you? Just sitting back and watching us suffer so we can do this over and over and over again -- fighting, losing people we love? When does it end? Tell me. CHUCK Dean, don't do this. DEAN No, we're done talking. 'Cause this -- this isn't just a story. It's our lives! So God or no God, you go to hell.

it feels kind of bonkers that they're just now getting clued into the conceit that all the suffering and misery and death they've been through has been at chuck's direction

surely the god-killing gun doesn't actually work on chuck. there's been a couple weird cuts for ads in the past season or two - where they repeat some action/dialogue after a cut for an ad. which is so weird, they never did that before.

looks like the bandana dean was using for sam's woulda-been-fatal head wound few episodes ago

spn 14x17

so jack's in the empty... and billie is there. okaayyy

resurrecting all the monsters they killed or whatever this is, sure. an extremely long shot of shambling zombies. did they need to kill time (i thought the cut to billie was the end of the episode and almost just skipped the last several minutes 🥴)

one season left to go. makes me think about how jared and jensen periodically talk about reviving the show but like. The Show was so out of ideas and things just got more and more convoluted and outlandish, what is there even left to do? other than some timeline reset but when they're older. or like apparently the winchesters, whole new au.

and despite how critical i am of the show, i'm still invested and care about sam and dean. so i'd watch whatever sam and dean show they might make. but i'm still gonna be critical :p i have avoided reading other people's opinions on any of the show i haven't seen so whatever criticism i'm spewing out is just my reaction as i watch

[cdyssey]

Yellowjackets 2.09 Reactions:

Oh, boy. Here we go. 😭

CW: Cannibalism

I’m so nervous—I’m gonna be sick.

NOT “ZOMBIE.” OH, GOD GODDAMN.

Travis’s relieved Natalie has broken me, already in anticipation of what’s going to fucking happen next.

THE WILDERNESS CHOSE.

I’m so sick over Travis’s visceral sobs—that’s his baby brother. He just got him back, and now he’s gone. (Kevin did such a good job here. Hhhhhgh.)

Lottie about to go all in on the euthanasia tea, but everyone else immediately protests. It’s Shauna who talks Lottie down from the ledge.

SHAUNALOTTIE HUG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH, BABY!!

Shauna giving the rest of the adults a wink, wink, nudge, nudge over Lottie’s shoulder as Lottie weeps. I feel for Lot so much. She just doesn’t want to be alone in feeling the way that she does. How much of her life has she been alone—the only one burdened by “visions,” sent to Switzerland for years, the teenage girl turned venerated prophetess??

“This is just about us.” It always has been. The six of them together. They were the power shakers in the cabin: the leaders, the butchers, the devoted worshippers, the hunters.

Shaunalottie handhold. <33 My superpower is that I can ship any configuration of the core six if they look at each other longer for two seconds.

“Yeah, except we got over it.” Natalie, ma’am, no, y’all, did not. <3

The makeup team is doing a stellar job in both timelines—the dark lines beneath Adult Tai’s eyes and Lottie’s injury makeup are really great.

Goddamn, poor Lottie.

“You started this. It’s done.” In the wilderness (and in the adult timeline as well), the girls are always looking for ways to foist the shame and responsibility away from themselves. Lottie started it. It chooses. Et cetera., et cetera. But they all became wrapped up in the darkness at some point or another. They all stood there silently as Javi disappeared below the surface of the water.

“Lottie is pleased with the wilderness’s choice.” Misty putting words into Lottie’s mouth. If Lottie is their deity or their priestess or saint or what have you, then Misty is a false prophet, spreading a malicious truth and sending the girls careening towards that gaping maw that they’ve all opened together. She’s the closer.

The sadness in Shauna’s eyes. Javi adored her. They shared quiet moments of kinship together. He carved her a wolf, and she saved that boy once—told him to run and possibly prevented him from dying during Doomscoming. But she was complicit in his death, and now she’s going to fucking dismember and eat him.

Shauna’s shaking hand. The tears slipping down her face. Sophie fucking Nélisse.

The fact that it’s Tai, Shauna, Nat, and Van who are at the butchering. This is Javi’s funeral.

GOD, SHAUNA COVERING HER EYES SO SHE DOESN’T HAVE TO FACE HIM. I’M UNWELL, UNWELL, UNWELL.

Van to Tai: “Or if she is [sick], then so are you.” It’s a deep cut for Tai who has spent most of her adult life trying to hold on to her hinges and create a perfect facade of a normal life.

What’s Van trying to get Tai to do? 😭

THE SPLIT WALL BETWEEN NAT AND SHAUNA IN THE KITCHEN IS SUCH A GOOD DIRECTION. AND THIS NEEDLE DROP.

“Do you Google yourself a lot?” AKQKWKJDJDNS. Callie Sadecki, I love u.

Callie’s gonna get that gun by the end of the episode.

Jeff really thought he was sending Shauna to a spa WNWKWOWKDS.

The cops. 😭 Kevyn, I like you, but Matt can go fuck off.

Nat trying to protect Lisa. God, God, God.

“I appreciate you trying to teach me… forgiveness. It’s a nice idea.” JESUS.

IF NATALIE SCATORCCIO DIES, I S2FG

Ben’s momentary joy at seeing Shauna at the butcher’s table again, thinking someone bagged an animal.

THE LINGERING SHOT ON THE JAVI REMAINS JFC

Ben’s ready to get Nat and nope the actual fuck out.

“You’re not like the rest of these girls.” / “Actually, I’m worse.” […] “I let him die in my place.” God, it’s the way that Nat does have it in her to accept responsibility, how she shoulders it the most unflinchingly of the entire cabin.

“You’re a good person, Coach. You really don’t belong in this place.” Sick. It’s an echo of Travis telling Nat something similar last week.

Oh, this Travis-Van conversation is brutal. Van, the consummate survivor, is just happy to fucking be alive and she won’t feel shame for that.

We’re seeing a lot of manipulations in the cabin so far. Misty twisting Lottie’s words, and now Van rhetorically giving purpose of Javi’s death. Interesting roles for these two especially because they’ve been the “worshippers” and “followers” for the most part. But as we’re learning, that role doesn’t go without influence.

WALTER SINGING “SEND IN THE CLOWNS,” ONE OF MY FAVORITE SONDHEIM SONGS?!?!?! Elijah has a very good voice!!

Kevyn Tan is so hot. It’s sad that he’s a cop. :(

Hot cocoa… the drink Jackie drank in her death dream…………

I objectively know that Shauna changed her name to Sadecki, but it doesn’t feel real to me. She’s Shauna Shipman forever.

Jeff should have changed his name. <3

“You’re being awfully judgy about Mom considering this all started thanks to your lame attempt at blackmail.” FVFXCVGC. She’s such a mommy’s girl. <33

“The American family is crumbling, Callie.” WKWMSNSNWKWJSN.

Oh, God. I’m fucking terrified about Callie wandering around on the compound. If anything happens to her, I’ll be ill.

Jeff trying to take the fall for Shauna. “I did it to protect her.” God, I fucking love him.

WHAT THE FUCK KEVYN

GODDAMMIT

WALTER

I’M UPSET. THIS IS THE WRONG FUCKING COP

IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MATT

Walter: “Hiya, me again.” Jeff-Walter meet cute over a dead body. <3

“Jeffrey! Does anyone call you that?” / “Yeah, my mom. No, she… she doesn’t.” HAJDNSSJ.

I am really upset about Kevyn, though. Alex Wyndham did such a good job of imbuing him with a lot of emotional complexity for a fairly slight role.

Ben being unable to start a fire recalls Jackie in the last season finale!!

THE HEART?!?!!))2)$3&2&28182&3;$3

GIVING TRAVIS THE HEA R T

OH GOD HE HAS TO CONSUME HIS BROTHER’S FUCKING HEART??????????

THE LITTLE WOLF STATUE. GDI

FUCKING RAW

SICK SICK SICK

APPARENTLY, SIBLINGHOOD IS EATING YOUR KID BROTHER’S HEART RAW. I—

How does this boy go back to his mother and look her in the eye, knowing that he ate his brother? Goddamn

This needle drop as adult Lottie prepares for the hunt is stellar.

🎶 “God is afoot. God never died.”

NOT TAI AND VAN CANCELLING THE CRISIS TEAM. GIRLIES, ALL OF YOU ARE IN A CRISIS.

I’m utterly terrified.

The women standing around a fire preparing for another hunt… God, last night, they were dancing around a fire, reveling at the snow. And there’s so much tension now about who is playing pretend and who is actually gearing up for a slaughter.

LOTTIE BRINGING A REAL ASS KNIFE.

CALLIE’S GOT THE GUN.

Fucking Matt the fucking cop.

The women’s haunted reactions to the queen card. They all remember what actions—what horrors—they committed by its name.

“I’d like to shuffle those some more.” The tremor in Shauna’s voice. Even if she thinks it’s fake, the trauma is absolutely real.

Van’s not trying real hard to deescalate this situation, huh?

I’m gonna need parallel GIFs of Van not drawing the queen and Tai’s reaction from both timelines. 😭 So, so good. The difference between them. Relief vs. Realization

“Is this what you wanted to happen?” Tai gets it, horrified. Van has always been a true believer.

“Because you know what happens if you do.” OH, GOD, IF THE GIRLS DIDN’T DRAW, WERE THEY AUTOMATICALLY CHOSEN?!?)$2!:$$:$2&3

MY HEART IS IN MY THROAT

OH, GOD. THEY’RE GONNA KEEP GOING AROUND THE CIRCLE UNTIL SOMEONE IS CHOSEN. SICK SICK SICK

THE FLASHES TO THEIR TEEN SELVES. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

NOT MY SHAUNA. FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK

AND SHE WAS THE LAST SHUFFLER TOO. OH GODD

THE MASKS. OH GOD. AND IS DARK TAI HERE.

YEAH, THAT’S GOTTA BE HER

JESUS

THE WOMEN HAVE ALL REVERTED TO THEIR PRIMAL SELVESS AAAAAA

“YOU CAN SUBMIT OR YOU CAN RUN.”

OH GOD. WAS THERE SOMEONE WHO JUST FUCKING SUBMITTED?????

“So you’ve all actually lost your minds.” THEY HAVE. JESUS.

“You know there’s no ‘it,’ right? It was just us!” / “Is there a difference?” WEEPING. VOMITING. GNASHING MY TEETH. NO, THERE’S NO DIFFERENCE.

“Oh, fuck off.” BABY GIRL, I LOVE YOU.

GOD, how is Shauna the most sane of them all right now?!

Lol, the close-up of the Adam case is so… clunky AKDKWJDNS. Lmfao.

And God, I really hate that the Adam/Jessica murders are going to be pinned on Kevyn. He was a decent dude. He was a good dad. He was soft on the Yellowjackets. He deeply cared for Nat. And now he’s collateral damage in the trauma spiral the survivors are on.

CALLIE SAVING SHAUNA. HELL FUCKING YEAH.

“Callie!” The ungodly terror and disbelief in Shauna’s voice.

“She’s so powerful.” The awe and reverence in Lottie’s voice. Callie’s got the wilderness in her too.

And we’re also indirectly reminded of teen Lottie’s obsession with the wilderness baby here.

Shauna pleading with Callie to put the gun down. Oh, God. Oh, GOD. Mere episodes ago, she could barely put the gun down herself.

“But she was going to kill you.” I’m so fucking unwell about traumatized mothers and their traumatized daughters.

Shauna’s feeling of betrayal at Tai especially—both of them have severely fucked up each other’s trust lately, and that scars them deeply.

“It was Van’s idea.” YEAH, TAISSA TURNER, BUT YOU WENT ALONG WITH IT!!!!!!!! ANWKDKWKDJ

“She’s like this because of us.” HHHHHHFHGFDG. THEY MADE THAT TEENAGE GIRL THEIR SAINT.

The girls hugging Lottie. 😭 Mari being so happy that she’s okay.

Van being the storyteller, oh, God. And she’s clearly recounted the plots of old movies to them before. That’s so precious.

Lottie: “I never wanted to be in charge. It chose me, I think… because I was the only one who knew how to listen.” Heartbreaking. I love the emphasis on hearing/listening here. It’s the sensory element that the wilderness seems to be most associated with along with sight (or the lack of it). “We hear the wilderness, and it hears us.”

NATALIE LEADER. NAT ANTLER QUEEN?!

Misty and Van on either side of adult Lottie, bandaging her wound, holding her—her most devoted followers.

“You were always its favorite.” And Nat just coming undone.

AUGHHHHHHH!! LISA?!??!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BACK INSIDE. THE WOMEN ARE BEING INSANE

“We tried to kill you. And it wouldn’t let us.” God, what a line. The fact that Lottie implicates herself in it, even though she literally had nothing to do with the actual hunt. She’s accepting responsibility and blame for it anyway. She’s taken Misty’s words to heart.

LOTTIENAT HAND KISS. GAYS WE’RE WINNING

Akilah’s little curtsey was so cute.

MISTY MAKING NAT LAUGH. OH GOD GAYS WE’RE WINNING.

here’s how mistylottienat can win

VAN NUZZLING HER FACE AGAINST NAT’S HAND. HERE’S HOW MISTYLOTTIENATVANTAISHAUNA CAN—

Oh, God. Travis placing her hand against his heart. I’m so fucking sick.

That tortured Shaunanat head bow!!!!!!!!!!! FUCK yeah

Sophie Thatcher’s smile. My fucking God

MISTY ON GOD

MISTY ON GOD

WHAT THE FUC K

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

FUCK OFF SHOW NO

OH GOD NAT

NOT HER

NOT NATALIE’S DEATH REALM BEING A GODDAMN PLANE

MISTY’S UTTER GODDAMN HORROR

THEY’RE ALL SO DEVASTATED

WHAT THE FUCK SHOW

GODDAMMIT YELLOWJACKETS

JAVI JAVI JAVI

OH GOD, THE BOY SHE CONDEMNED AND HE’S COMFORTING HER

“I’m not supposed to be here.” SOBBING. SHE JUST FOUND HER GODDAMN WILL TO LIVE. SHE WAS GONNA GET SOBER. WHAT THE FUCK

SHE DIDN’T WANT TO DIE

“THIS IS EXACTLY WHERE WE BELONG.” OH GOD. A REVERSAL OF WHAT SHE TOLD BEN EARLIER IN THE EPISODE

“WE’VE BEEN HERE FOR YEARS.”

NAT SOBBING. I CAN’T FUCKING TAKE THIS.

TEEN LOTTIE????????????????????? PLACING A HAND ON HER HEART

“It’s not evil. Just hungry. Like us.” AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Misty fucking sobbing is ending me. Christina Ricci.

“I’m so sorry. Oh, God.” I’m not well.

NO. NOT THEM CHALKING UP HER DEATH AS A GODDAMN OVERDOSE. THAT IS SO CRUEL.

FUCK.

I’M SO FUCKED UP

GOD LOTTIE IS JUST.

SHE TRIED SO HARD TO SAVE NAT

“Walter, I killed my best friend.” I can’t fucking do this. Oh, God. Misty tried so goddamn hard to keep her alive too.

“It’s going to be okay.” / “Natalie’s dead.” No, it won’t be okay. That was their teammate, their leader, their goddamn friend. They loved her. They hunted her. They loved her. They killed her.

Vantai promising to visit Lottie. That’s kind of the girlflops, but God, Van’s plan to keep Lottie out of an institution failed anyway. And now Nat is dead.

“We have it what it wanted. It is pleased with us.” And she looks at Van: “You’ll see.” Jesus fucking Christ.

THE CLOSE UP ON CALLIE. THE LITTLE GRIN FLIRTING AT HER MOUTH THAT SHAUNA FUCKING SEES. AND IT’S DEVASTATING TO HER. She now knows that her daughter has it in her too.

Shauna rage-jealousy journaling AMSMSNMSD. She’s so petty. <3

BEN SET THE GODDAMN FUCKING CABIN ON FIRE?!!???$))))2&2@1@&2&2!3!3$3

SO UPSETTING

GOD, JUST. He condemned them because he thinks that they’re monsters, but what the hell has he become himself?

THIS SHOW

[depressedhatakekakashi]

I can't believe someone told me they hate Kakashi because of this "He was ungrateful to obito. The moment he wanted to kill obito changed everything in my eyes. See even obito could've killed kakashi and taken back his sharingan, but obito did not. Kakashi owes his life to obito and this never should've tried to kill obito. Especially when minato himself forgave him". I feel like some people skip everything important, it's like this person ignored everything bad that Obito did and treated him like he was a saint. Imo some people hate Kakashi because hating is free, I really don't understand some fans, in this case Obito fans...

O-Obito wanted to force the entire world into a dream state and was willing to kill anyone he had to in order to achieve his goals

Also Kakashi didn’t owe him shit. Kakashi had already sacrificed his eye to protect Obito who went into a fight alone that he was in no way prepared for. Kakashi is the reason Obito even unlocked his sharingan in the first place.

By saving Kakashi’s life, Obito was evening the score. Kakashi had saved him once and he repayed that by saving Kakashi. Not everyone dies when they save someone, Obito just happened to get the worst scenario of having to save Kakashi (who was only injured and prevented from getting out himself because he was still recovering from his eye injury, which he sustained protecting Obito)

Kakashi and Obito are even. Kakashi feels guilty that Obito died and blames himself for that death (even though it’s not his fault) and continues to carry around that guilt for years until Obito finally gives him an opportunity to release some of it

Carrying guilt is not a reason to step down from what you believe and let someone do whatever they want

No one owes any person enough, ever, to set aside their own ideals to let the other person do what they want

Like… jfc. That’s ridiculous.

‘Minato forgave Obito’

Good for him, Minato was wrong for stopping Kakashi and should have kept his ass out of the issue. It would have been way cooler to see Kakashi stop a mere inch from Obito, realize as much as he needs to protect people he can’t be the one to end Obito ‘again’ leading into that conversation that pulls Obito back to their side

Or Obito should have been allowed to continue down his path and die a villian believing what he has believed for years instead of entertaining an idea of being Hokage after being an international terrorist for most of his life.

Kakashi was right to face off against Obito. If he simply stepped back and Let Obito do what he want he would be the biggest hypocrite for always talking about his precious people and failing to fight for them when faced with Obito

[rawwkfingers]

Pyramids of Mars

That was an absolutely incredible piece of television jfc

If you were to try to sell people on it with just a cliffnotes summary, I don't think you could convey just why it was so good tbh. "The Doctor discovers an extremely powerful alien menace harassing Earth using a historical setting as a backdrop" is just standard fare now. But, while not the first historical serial to include scifi elements, it is the first to treat the idea with any sense of emotional weight

The Doctor's constant emphasizing that Sutekh was Evil did get repetitive at times, but it helped to sell that they were in mortal danger at all times AND that he HAD to be stopped.

I've actually seen this serial before, but a long time ago. All I remembered from it was the scene of Sarah Jane looking at the future of the Earth if they didn't stop Sutekh, and it's no surprise that's what stuck in my memory because what an immensely powerful moment it is. I got the feeling that Sarah Jane already knew they couldn't leave even as she asked the Doctor if they could, which just helped increase the impact

It wasn't just the premise that the serial treated with extra care though. Doctor Who has always been a bit of an anomaly because it's marketed primarily as a children's show, but character deaths are EXCEEDINGLY common. To the point that one of the most famous emotional highlights of the show is Eccleston's "Just this once, everybody lives" speech, highlighting how often people die.

They get away with it by, mostly, having the characters move on pretty quickly from the deaths (this is more applicable to Classic than New tho.) This story refused to do that. It treated every single death with extreme gravity, really allowing the actors to embrace the danger they were in. And it worked so well, there was a genuine feeling of menace throughout the whole story that is so often lacking from the various alien menaces the Doctor faces

A little thing that I noticed and appreciated was the way the stakes were set high even before we met Sutekh. Sarah Jane and the Doctor's little moment before the Tardis crashes, where the Doctor talks about how he wanders through eternity, was incredibly well-acted and also served to remind the viewer that being a Time Lord *means* something. The whole serial the Doctor was more distant than we're used to, which I'm sure was meant to communicate that feeling as well

(A little question though, was the dress Sarah Jane picks out worn by Vicki or Victoria? He uses both names so I'm not sure, though it looks more like something Victoria would wear imo. Also, I think that was our first concrete reference to a past companion who traveled with a different Doctor)

[percontaion-points]

The Chemist chapter 8

Click to see the rest of the snark & image descriptions

Chapter 8

The pictures that were Daniel but at the same time weren’t. 

The holes in the file on Daniel’s history, the missing photos. 

Time, dates, birth dates —the easiest small changes to make if you wanted to hide something. 

Daniel’s strange reluctance to believe what he was seeing when he looked at the spy images. 

His struggles with loyalty. 

Those long, long fingers. 

“Other Daniel,” she whispered. 

Is this book seriously trotting out the “evil identical twin” trope? JFC stop. 

She nodded to the photographs scattered on the floor. He seemed to notice them for the first time. He leaned over to examine one, then bent down to grab it. Then the one underneath, and the next. He crumpled t

hem in his fist. 

“Where did you get these?” “Compliments of a small department working for the American government—entirely off the books. I used to be in their employ. They asked me to freelance.” 

His face contorted in outrage. “This is highly classified!” 

“You wouldn’t believe my clearance level.”

And what? He thought that somebody grabbed Daniel, took him to a farmhouse dozens of miles outside of the city, and started torturing him… FOR FUNSIES?!

“Well, since you already know the details, I guess it’s not a huge breach of policy for me to tell you that I shut down the de la Fuentes situation six months ago. De la Fuentes’s death is not common knowledge. What’s left of the cartel is keeping this quiet so they don’t appear vulnerable to the competition.”

Naturally, the mysterious government agency that couldn’t be bothered to find out that Kevin Beach is still alive, also can’t be bothered to find out that the terrorist HASN’T BEEN ALIVE FOR HALF A YEAR. 

First things first. She reset the screen saver on her computer to come on after fifteen minutes of inactivity.

I love how she knocks Kevin out, and the first thing she does is the most inane activity imaginable. 

Explaining things? Pfft! Not in this book!

Back to Other Daniel. The Batsuit was a chore to remove.

The stupidest thing about this is that as soon as Julie saw him, she identified him as Kevin Beach, Daniel’s supposed-to-be-dead identical twin brother. 

SO WHY THE FUCKITY FUCK IS SHE STILL CALLING HIM “OTHER DANIEL” AND “BATMAN”?!

There would be repercussions to deal with. She needed time to rest and heal —time no one was going to give her.

Chapter 8 summary: Julie tells the mystery man (she will not stop calling him “Batman” because he’s dressed in all black; I refuse to stoop to her level of stupidity) that she’s sedated Daniel. The mystery man then ties Julie to a chair, and takes the gas mask off. Julie is surprised that it’s Daniel’s identical twin brother… the one who’s supposed to be dead.

He then finds the photos of him talking to the Mexican drug lord who’s supposed to be in charge of this terrorist attack. Julie spills everything, about the attempts on her life, about being asked to step in to deal with “Daniel”. She guesses from the gun Kevin has that he’s CIA, but that if not even her agency knew Kevin was still alive, that he’s working off the books with this one. Kevin is more angry that somebody tortured his brother than the fact that somebody’s clearly setting both Julie and Kevin up (and using Daniel as bait). 

Julie then… somehow or another, gases both Kevin and his giant dog. Julie holds her breath, and despite the fact that her hands are zip-tied behind her back, she manages to put the gas mask on. She frees herself before she locks the dog into a room, and parks the car in front of the door to prevent it from getting out. After that, she checks Daniel’s body all over more closely for a tracking device, and finds one “nestled against his femoral artery”. She figures that it sent out an alert when she started torturing Daniel, which is why Kevin swooped in to save the day. 

She then resets her broken nose. And will not shut up about the mysterious chemical concoction she made that she nicknamed “survive”. It’s kept intentionally vague, but the only thing I can think about is that it’s mainly to hide how dumb the entire thing is. She then passes out on the cot. 

[vacantgodling]

ren reads: the phantom of the opera (pt. 1) — prologue & chapter 1

as an aside: feel free to block ren reads if you don’t want to see or hear about my musings as i read books lol

INTRO: we’re starting with my beloved phantom of the opera — which i have never read LMAO. i’ve had the book for ages on my shelf but never got around to reading it. i love the musical so so much but i haven’t been in a reading mood for YEARS. so. ye :p

i think what immediately strikes me about reading this book is that gaston leroux seems to make himself an active character (to an extent) in the story. the prologue essentially explains how gaston leroux (the character, yet, himself) has gathered all the information about the mysterious phantom of the opera from a variety of different sources in an attempt to corroborate that the phantom existed at all but also to dispel the idea that it was simply a rivalry between two brothers that caused the disappearance of christine.

“… the mysterious and dramatic conditions that attended the kidnapping of Christine Daaé, the disappearance of the Viscomte de Chagny, and the death of his elder brother, Count Philippe, whose body was found on the bank of the lake that exists in the lower cellars of the Opera… […] But none of those witnesses had until that day thought that there was any reason for connecting the more or less legendary figure of the Phantom of the Opera with that terrible story.”

so the entire premise of the book is leading up to the chagny case—where a count was murdered, the younger brother has disappeared, and christine has Also vanished, all of which happened 30-ish years prior to when gaston (the character) is writing this long story and explanation. this puts things into a different perspective to me personally in comparison to the play—and when i say play i’m usually referring to the phantom of the opera 25th royal albert hall performance because it’s the best one. but i assume this is true for all versions of the play. but there’s the beginning bit where there’s an auction going on for special or unique items from the opera house bc it’s being shut down (or has been for some time). so it makes everything feel more like a flashback, which to me is different than a retelling from a third party’s perspective after the event in question has already happened. you get the same type of dichotomy when you watch any frankenstein adaption vs mary shelley’s actual book: we start with a third party account removed from the event in question to establish the set up and to tell you the end goal of the novel (as in: where we’re ending up by the end of this). flashbacks are more in the present moment to me; retellings allow for the narrator (as in the case with gaston—the character) to take on a role in shaping our expectations of characters and events. they’re not impartial and that’s very important to consider.

as a small example, one of the things that i’ve been enjoying about gaston (the character’s) narration is the way certain characters are described physically. like it makes me laugh lmao. as an example, take a character you probably know from the play: meg giry

“[…]—the girl with eyes black as sloes [wild plums], hair black as ink, a swarthy complexion and a poor little skin stretched over poor little bones[…]”

and then he goes on again to describe her as a dried plum and i’m—

i’m sorry it’s objectively hilarious to me. but to my point, there’s a bias there with gaston’s (the character—i’m just gonna put TC next to his name if and when i am referring to him as a character jfc) that i wasn’t aware of. it creates a different experience.

this also ties into the fact that the play’s ending (as far as i can tell from chapter one and the prologue) is a much happier twist than what actually occurs in book and what we’re talking about. the play ends with christine and raoul being together with the phantom slinking off into the shadows never to be seen again (which, happier for christine and raoul i suppose) meanwhile the book is saying that christine, the phantom and raoul have all vanished and raoul’s elder brother is dead. literally the entire plot line with raoul’s brother is nonexistent in the play—which adds another layer of depth which is blindsiding me a little bit. i think for the sake of time and for the songs, the play mainly focuses on the “love triangle” between raoul, the phantom, and christine, and aside from being christine’s love interest and protector, raoul doesn’t really have his Own storyline going on. i’m very curious to see where the story will go with this added plot thread and what his brother is like in the first place. they’re described (raoul and his brother) to be adoring of one another, so the fact that people assume that raoul did it is fascinating; so i want to see if i can understand why gaston TC is saying that’s the public opinion.

the last little bit i want to touch on here bc this is getting EXTREMELY long is that everyone is supremely superstitious and i find it interesting that this is notated in the book bc it’s a real showcase of the times and what’s considered “normality.” when you think of france in this time (late 1800s-early 1900s) and really much of western europe, you assume there’s a heavy emphasis on christianity as we know religious conservatives to be today. but it’s more complicated than that. but i counted about 8 instances alone in chapter 1 where people are explicitly said to be superstitious (like la sorelli one of the principal dancers & gabriel the chorus master) and several instances of people crossing themselves, using horseshoes and iron/metal and touching rings/making gestures with their hands to ward off back luck or evil. which, given our modern viewpoint of this time we would assume they’d all be praying to god etc etc. it just strikes me that in the presence of the supernatural, people are more likely to act on “tried and true” superstitions than relying on something that doesn’t involve them doing something to stop the evil from hurting you.

it’s very fascinating!

i’m really enjoying everything so far and i’m gonna keep going on to chapter 2 :)

[thetardigrape]

What's Wrong with Izzy Hands?

There's so much Discourse™️ lately about Izzy and damn, battle lines have really been drawn. No matter which side of which line you stand on, though, one thing is clear: there's something wrong with Izzy.

This is clear because he spends the entirety of S1 furious and struggling, when no one else does. Everyone else has moments of struggle, sure, but they also have moments of other things, like love or friendship or success. Not Izzy. Izzy never wins.

The Doylist reason, I suspect, is that Izzy is Ed's antagonist and they need him to run counter to Ed at all times in order to move the story forward. But to do that, he needs a Watsonian reason to be failing all the damn time. And I think I've maybe figured it out?

He boils people down to archetypes, then treats them that way regardless of what they do.

Ed is not a man who can both love a good maim and fancy a fine fabric, he's Blackbeard, a legend and a monster. Stede is not a starry-eyed rich man who is catching on in How To Be A Pirate 101 surprisingly quickly, he's a namby-pamby who has seduced Blackbeard and ruined him. Lucius is not a scribe hired for his artistic and calligraphic skills who is also so charming he's gotten it on with half the crew, he's a work-averse slut who can't do a single job right. Ivan and Fang aren't emotionally rich crew members who support Izzy and each other, they're henchmen who ask too many questions.

Izzy never once treats anyone else as a whole person. He never sees nuance or subtlety, never accepts that a person can contain contradictions or hold conflicting desires, never believes that there's anything more than what there appears to be on the surface. So when the people around him do recognize those subtleties, when they treat each other as whole people in ways that don't agree with Izzy's stereotypes of them, he becomes outraged. Which is like, all the time, because all of those people are people and none of them will ever consistently be a single archetype.

And that, I think, is where his redemption will lie, if it happens. I think it will have to start with himself, because I think he sees himself the same way—first mate to Blackbeard and god as far as the crew are concerned. He thinks he has no purpose or desire outside of that box, even though we the audience (and many people on the ship) can see it very clearly. Once he sees that there's more to himself than a single archetype, he'll be forced to recognize that there's more to everyone else as well. Then and only then will he be able to start building actual relationships with people.

[alixennial]

Hubris C1E17

One thing really noticeable when watching early C1 stuff straight after getting caught up with C3 is the way they vastly underestimated their popularity in the beginning. Having giveaways for every 50 subscribers to the stream at this point meant 3x prize giveaways before they'd even started the game. And they were So Excited about it 💖

Some personal highlights: (There are spoilers under the cut, but not major ones. It’s of absolutely no use as an episode summary. Sorry about that.)

- The way Matt deals with Orion deciding to fuck off right as the game is starting is legendary.

- "I go over and provide very vigorous CPR. No mouth to mouth, just that hand part." GROG!! 

- I don’t really want to go into all the tension surrounding that one player, but at this stage I’m really appreciating the way Travis and Matt in particular keep it light hearted for the sake of everyone’s sanity.

- Scanlan taking a magical dump in an ancient Temple of Sarenrae, in the very religious city of Vasselheim, so that he may watch over Pike. It’s both very touching and very Scanlan.

- Side note: why am I now only just seeing the term ‘Scanthems’.. I love it!

- "So I leave and rejoin my fellows, wiping the tear from my eye and the poo from my bottom." MATT, you allowed this potion to exist jfc! 😂

- Grog, getting some of the spotlight this week: "Like a kid getting too close to an amusement park, I take off running." Cute!

- I just love how Matt gives every character opportunity to have their moments and recognises when it's time to do that ❤️

- Matt comparing Vax and his daggers to David Bowie and his glass orbs. 😍

- Liam wanting to bet 1000 gold on Vax beating Grog in a fight because he lacks any sense of self-preservation.

- That moment when Laura helps Travis out with his maths. Double cute.

- "He's like the Black Knight in Monty Python! He's got no knees!"

- I’ve chewed my nails more over this fight than the last couple of combat rounds!

- Laura being the one to suggest a whorehouse for Grog.

- Grog taking every opportunity to compliment everyone's beards.

- I really hope Grog gets his beard soon.

- "Where do I mark off my loss of pride?" "That would be under additional notes."

- Vax: "Grog, If it's any consolation-" Grog: "What's that mean?" Percy: "It's a group of stars in the sky" 

- Taliesin has legendary timing with his comebacks. Too many go under the radar.

- "You make your way to the third floor to a room in the brothel that has been prepared and awaiting for you, paid for by the Bellows' Respite and you find yourself sloppily disappointing a woman until you pass out in your own sorrow." MATT!!!

- "Plus we have the poo cell phone."

- Travis, already having a humiliating time of it, shining the laser pointer straight into his own eye instead of on the map.

- Taliesin dying having witnessed what Travis just did. 🤣

- "I know! I used it at the fight that you didn't want to fight in." adskfhdksl SAM!

- Laura rolling a natural 20 on her saving throw to avoid damage from her own exploding arrow that Percy made as a gift for Vex. Taliesin: "NOW???!!"

- A slow clap for Orion and his fireballs.

- "Sean Connery's talking now."

- Both Matt and Liam do very decent Sean Connery impressions tbh.

- The death glare Laura gives Liam when Vax says "We're not here for a paycheck"

- Laura/Vex: "I have *enormous* balls."

- Matt/Mertin: "This would have to go to my boss, the Headmaster. My wife." Liam: "I feel you."

- Things are about to get very interesting with the gang being split and ooh special guests next time 🤩

[waynedunlaptheorgandonor]

watched s11ep1

i will provide you with a quick review before i disappear back into the ether of twd avoidance

lots of spoilers under the cut. also i wrote way too much and i worked all night and haven’t slept so i didn’t bother to reread literally any of it, so it might be completely nonsensical, tho if you don’t expect that from me by this point idk whose blog you’ve been reading

enjoy:

hokay, first off, i’ll start by saying that i enjoyed it more than i expected to. i’ve been avoiding any sort of discussion about stuff, but my google algorithm is so fucked at this point that i still get recommended articles and stuff every now and then, so i was already pretty aware of what i was walking into, and was expecting it to be eh, but actually i prob enjoyed it more than i enjoyed the finale

(don’t get too excited tho, the finale was rly boring lmfao)

anyway

episode starts off with a tense scouting mission

it takes .005 seconds into the episode for caryl to exchange a look of longing, establishing that they are still having weird conflict and are both too fucking stubborn to do anything about it even tho they hate it desperately

i imagine that will continue for a while

rosita, kelly, carol, maggie, what’s her face with the bad hair, and lydia (i think that’s everyone?) lower down to some army bunker or something, where a bunch of walkers are taking a snooze, and the girls are very respectful of walker naptime, and do their best not to wake them up

obviously they eventually wake up, but i’ll get to that in a sec

as they’re tiptoeing through the walker tulips, there’s this split second where carol spots a machine gun, and looks at maggie with a face like, “can i plzzzz, i am mad horny for that machine gun,” but maggie tells her no. (i 110% expected her to defy orders and accidentally wake up all the walkers, but she actually behaved herself for once. well. mostly)

never fear, tho, after the girl gang collects a bunch of MREs they go back to wait for the dudes waiting up top to pull them up, and bc men ruin everything, one of the ropes break, and daryl catches it before it falls, but then a slow motion drop of blood falls on a walker’s face, and just like that, walker naptime is over, and carol uses her bow and arrow for two seconds before she is like “fuck this” and whips out the machine gun

yes, she is super hot using it

yes, daryl watches her do it

anyway, all the other girls get rescued, and carol is about to be pulled up, but bc she is a #girlboss, she first makes a beeline for one more crate full of MREs. daryl covers her while she gets the loot, and when she gets back up top they have another charged moment as carol hands him back his knife

just fuck already, jfc

titles!

cut to alexandria where everything is still not smilestimes

BUT, we do get to see uncle daryl run and hug rj and judith (and dog), and FUCKING HERSHEL JR, LIGHT OF MY LIFE is also there

istg, they could not have casted a better child, i a d o r e him

oh, and some friends of maggie’s show up too, idk

cut to a staff meeting where everyone is like, whomp whomp, we’re all gonna starve to death unless we figure out something quick

cue maggie going, “oh, i know where food is, but it requires me to tell you my tragic backstory, in case anyone didn’t watch my bottle episode”

she tells her dramatic backstory about all her friends getting slaughtered by the reapers for no apparent reason, and then she’s like “anyway, let’s go back there!”

no one thinks it’s a great idea, but a group of people decide to go anyway, including daryl and gabriel. rosita is super pissed that gabriel is going, and carol doesn’t go, probably partly bc it’s a shitty fucking idea, and also bc they have to keep caryl apart bc otherwise they’ll fix their problems ahead of schedule and they won’t be able to drag out the needless angst

daryl looks kind of annoyed that carol doesn’t volunteer to go 

bitch, i thought you wanted her to stop putting herself in the line of fire! make up your damn mind!

moving on

cut to a thunderstorm, where, if you look closely, you’ll notice daryl is wearing the STUPIDEST hat i’ve ever seen. just get an umbrella, jfc

for some reason negan is with them, bc ig he knows his way around washington dc, and no one in six years has bothered to figure out how to get around the city and/or get a map, and he is like “hey guys, maybe we shouldn’t try to walk in this fucking hurricane,” and everyone is like “FUCK YOU NEGAN, YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF US!!!” 

this will be a common occurrence 

but eventually daryl is even like “actually, it’s rly unpleasant out here, and my hat is mad stupid, can we go inside plz?”

so they go inside an old metro station, which is actually a rly cool cinematic choice. i rly like the idea, and they executed it rly well

speaking of executions

there are some fucking RULL CREEPY walkers. idk why they bothered me so badly, but they were what they at first assumed were corpses wrapped up in tarps, but turns out none of them had been properly put down, so they go through killing these rotted bodies that had supposedly been there since The Fall, and it’s very gross and cool

this entire time, btw, negan is like “hey, i know i’m a shitty person, but i have some rational arguments about why we shouldn’t be doing this right now,” and everyone is like, “FUCK YOU NEGAN, YOU’RE NOT THE BOSS OF US!!!” and he’s just like “god fucking damnit”

(i forgot to mention that at one point, when they’re headed into the metro station, negan is trying to warn ppl of the potential danger, and everyone is ignoring him, and he tries to talk to daryl, and daryl is like “fuck you, you think we’re BUDDIES?” and negan is like “oh, ok, so you’re gonna be like that too? fanfreakingtastic” and it’s very funny)

anyway. a fat monster zombie escapes its tarp at one point, and tries to eat some npc, and negan saves him, again is like “hey, anyone else realize that this is a FUCKING BAD PLAN?”, and everyone is like “we don’t care, you’re still shitty and we’re not listening to you, and you don’t actually care about random npc i would literally not be able to pick out in a lineup bc his face is so generic, you’re not the boss of us!!!”

it’s at this point that negan finally is like, “why am i even here? bc i know how to get around washington dc? do none of you have a map?” and i was like, “right?! that’s what i said!” 

it’s then revealed that maggie only brought negan along to murder him under the guise of “oops, he got hurt in the line of duty, it wasn’t my fault,” and daryl has this look on his face that says, “i seriously need to stop hanging out with lethal women bent on revenge bc it’s gonna give me high blood pressure,” and maggie has a badass moment where she points a gun she has for some reason at negan and is like “i have like, one shred of human compassion left inside of me, and if you keep pushing me i will fucking kill you without a second thought, so shut the hell up”

(in her defense, negan had just dropped glenn’s name to purposely antagonize her, which was rude as hell)

(for the record, i’m completely on maggie’s side here, but negan still is right that trapping themselves in a metro station is a bad call)

anyway, moving away from that briefly

i think this jump cut happens sooner, i don’t actually remember, but whatever who cares, point is, we get to the part of the show that actually matters, and that’s anything involving my love, juanita “princess” sanchez

and also eugene, yumiko, and ezekiel

they are being asked increasingly invasive questions by commonwealth ppl, some of which i wish they actually would of answered (what do they use to wipe their asses with?? surely toilet paper has long since become extinct)

zeke, who is so much more tolerable as a character now that he’s not larping as a king, has this incredibly weird and sort of sexually charged moment with a dude in an orange stormtrooper costume, where he’s like, “i bet you were an asshole cop back before The Fall, you stupid fascist, #fuckthepolice, mb literally? idk, this moment has a lot of pent up aggression that could easily translate to hate sex, it might just be the intense eye contact, but w/e, let’s just move along,” and then he has a coughing fit to remind the audience that he’s currently dying of cancer, and orange stormtrooper is like “lolz, loser, drink some water you dumb piece of shit”

cut to the wholesome foursome sitting at a picnic table in a guarded courtyard eating gruel, and yumkio, who finally has a personality, and princess are like “hey, this place fucking sucks, can we leave?” and zeke is like, “yeah, i met this orange stormtrooper who i think might be dtf and/or murder, so we should probably bounce”

but eugene is like, “but i want some hot stephanie ass, and also some bullshit excuse about how mb commonewealth will save alexandria” which, they left before things went super downhill, right? idr. it was after hilltop fell, but they don’t know alexandria got fucked either, if i recall? w/e, not important

two seconds after he says this, they talk to some people who are like “we’ve been here for four months, or maybe it’s been nine, i don’t actually remember, i’ve stopped processing the passage of time,” and the wholesome foursome takes this as a bad sign, tho that’s just the life i’ve lived as a night worker during a pandemic, so i was like #mood

but then they watch some guy get dragged away screaming to get “reprocessed” and eugene is like “ok, nvm, let’s bounce”

(my theory on what “reprocessing” is, is that they’re stuck in a room and have to watch hours and hours of customer service training videos on vhs from the 90s)

i definitely got my jump cut scenes mixed up bc i think the negan accusing maggie of a murder plot thing happened in between this scene and then the next commonwealth scene, but w/e, i’ll just finish what happens in the commonwealth arch

the wholesome foursome are trying to hatch a plan to escape, except princess, my love, is distracted watching some stormtroopers flirt, and the other three are like “wtf, dude, how can you even tell any of them apart?” and princess then tells them every stormtroopers backstory bc she is brilliant and pays rly close attention to shit, and the other three are like, “this is useful information, thank you for being an insane person”

their plan involves yumiko and eugene dressing up as stormtroopers and leading princess and zeke out of the place, which works fine actually, except on their way out they come across the Depressing Wall of Probably Mostly Dead Missing Loved Ones

they’re about to leave, when princess is like, “wait, yumiko, you’re on here, that’s weird huh?”

sure enough, yumiko  is on the wall, with a note from ig her sister 

the scene ends with yumiko going, “guys...i can’t leave...i have tragic backstory to unveil”

tragic backstory to be continued ig

back in murder metro town, npc and some other npc have stolen all the supplies, there’s a train blocking the track, and a horde of walkers are coming towards them, so things are not going fantastic

they horde is too big to take down, so they start to climb on top of the train car to get away

but dog runs away!

and daryl, being every pet owner ever, is like “gotta go get my dog, guys, try not to get killed while i’m gone, c u soon!” and he ducks under the train and disappears

#priorities

the episode ends with maggie climbing up the train car but getting grabbed by a walker and dangling off the edge, and negan is there and they have a lion king moment where maggie is like, “scar! help me!” and negan is like “long live the king, bitch” and walks away into the shadows, leaving maggie to a potential death

which, while i know isn’t actually going to happen, would be a really fucking funny move on the writers’ part

like, “look, lauren’s back! and now she’s dead, bet you didn’t expect that!”

anyway

my assumption is negan will actually end up helping her up or something, continuing his ambiguous morality bullshit that actually isn’t ambiguous bc he BEAT GLENN TO DEATH WITH A FUCKING BAT WRAPPED IN BARBED WIRE IN FRONT OF HIS PREGNANT WIFE

the maggie/negan arch is kind of dumb, but whatevs, i’ll tolerate it, as long as my boy glenn gets justice in the end

anyway, cue credits!

final assessment: good episode. i’m much more interested in commonwealth than the reapers, tho i am hoping that daryl’s personality-less ex turns out to be a monster killing machine with no conscience, that’ll be fun. princess is a gift from god. hershel jr needs his own tv show. needs more carol (and caryl)

the end! going back into my walking dead free chamber! see you next episode!

-diz